Dark Castle
|inhabitants = Lumiere *Rumplestiltskin † |owner = Zelena Rumplestiltskin † |visitors = See "Visitors" |inmates = Belle † *Robin Hood † *Rumplestiltskin † |firstappearance = That Still Small Voice |latestappearance = Beauty |latestmention = Homecoming }} The Dark Castle"Skin Deep", Once Upon a Time, ABC is an Enchanted Forest location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the fifth episode of the first season. The Dark Castle is based on the Beast's castle from the fairytale "Beauty and the Beast", and the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. History From the nearby land of Arendelle, Ingrid arrives with her sisters Helga and Gerda to Rumplestiltskin's castle hoping for a way to be rid of her ice magic. Rumplestiltskin tries to interest her in harnessing her powers with magic lessons, but she stands by her original request. In exchange for giving Ingrid magic-concealing gloves and a urn, he desires the three ribbons the three sisters are wearing on their wrists, which contains magic created by their sisterly love for one another. Helga and Gerda refuse, believing the strength of their love for their sister is enough to protect her, but Ingrid insists on having the gloves and urn so her magic will never harm anyone. As Ingrid forfeits her ribbon, her sisters follow suit. Taking in Regina as a magic trainee, Rumplestiltskin is surprised to learn she has an older half-sister named Zelena. He teaches her magic as well, and after the lesson, Zelena bakes his favorite meat-pie. Rumplestiltskin returns to his castle to find Zelena there waiting for him, but he informs her that he cannot stay since Regina still needs training. She reacts with resentment, believing herself much more powerful than her half-sister, though Rumplestiltskin coyly points out that her jealousy is literally turning her skin green. Shocked, Zelena takes a look in the mirror to see a patch of green skin on her neck. Despite excelling in magic, Regina still desires to be with her deceased lover, Daniel, though Rumplestiltskin warns that "dead is dead". While heartbroken, Jefferson, who had been in the room doing business with Rumplestiltskin, offers her a chance to remedy that disappointment with the services of a “wizard” who has the power to bring back the dead. Eagerly, she accepts and gives Jefferson a royal passport to roam the kingdom freely. In a deal with Sir Maurice to stop ogres from invading his land, Rumplestiltskin asks for his daughter, Belle, to leave her home and become a servant at his castle for an eternity, which she agrees to fulfill. Belle is thrown in the dungeon of Rumplestiltskin's castle. He lists all of Belle's tasks and when he jokes about one of the duties, she accidentally drops a tea cup and chips it. After becoming Rumplestiltskin's servant, Belle spends her nights in the castle dungeon crying because she misses her family. One night, an irritated Rumplestiltskin storms in and conjures a pillow for her, which she thanks him for the gesture so she can sleep more comfortably, but he replies it's for muffling her noisy cries. Suddenly, a loud thud is heard, and both rush to see a hooded thief stealing a wand. The thief fires an arrow from his bow, which has a reputation for never missing. Eventually, the arrow hits Rumplestiltskin, but since he is immortal, it has no effect. He imprisons the thief and tortures him on a daily basis. Belle, feeling sorry for the man, frees him while Rumplestiltskin is away. The thief escapes with the wand; prompting Rumplestiltskin to haul Belle along as he tracks down the man. With Belle's persuasion, he lets the thief go and they return to the castle. Before heading off to bed, he gifts her a library room since she loves reading. Though Rumplestiltskin attempts to hide his kind intentions, Belle is pleased and reaffirms he does have goodness inside of him. On another day, after Belle has finished with the laundry and polished the silver, Rumplestiltskin returns home with a wailing baby for her to look after. She is dismayed to learn he stole the child from his parents and even more horrified when Rumplestiltskin admits he has sinister intentions for the baby later at sundown. With a good story from a book, Belle calms down the baby and begins plotting a way to save him before Rumplestiltskin's return. At one point, she wanders into the castle tower, where she finds an incantation written in fairy language that can be used to summon the Black Fairy. As soon as Belle is finished translating it, Rumplestiltskin appears to claim it as well as the baby, before locking her in the tower as he leaves. The Blue Fairy, on her way into the castle after sensing the Dark One use the incantation to call the Black Fairy, hears Belle's cries for help and flies to her. Unable to help with her own magic, the Blue Fairy frees Belle before sending her to rescue the child from Rumplestiltskin's grasp. Following the death of her husband, King Leopold, Regina makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to have a magical disguise, which will enable her to kill Snow White. Rumplestiltskin instructs her to say his name when she wants the disguise taken off, and though she ends up calling him twice, he never responds. After the Queen to execute her own plan, she angrily storms into his castle, demanding to be returned to her former self. Frustrated, she admits he is right about how the commoners feel about her, and that they will never love her. He asks what she will do now, and with a tone of bitterness, Regina vows to punish them all. Only then does Rumplestiltskin reverse the spell, and Regina can see her own reflection again. She smiles wickedly, commenting the Queen is dead, and "Long live the Evil Queen". |-|Alternate Timeline= Thrown into the past from the future via a portal, Emma and Hook gain entry into Rumplestiltskin's castle so the Dark One can help them orchestrate a past meeting between Emma's parents, Prince Charming and Snow White, to ensure the future remains unchanged. Noticing Rumplestiltskin has returned home, Belle walks in to ask if he needs anything. Happy to see a familiar face, Emma greets Belle by name and then claims Rumplestiltskin mentioned her, which he did not. He shoos his maid out of the room by telling her to get back to her cleaning duties, and she grudgingly obeys. After Belle exits, Emma mumbles about the irony that the two of them later fall in love with each other, which Rumplestiltskin finds preposterous. Emma states that Snow White must steal Prince Charming's ring so the two can meet and fall in love. After much work, she and Hook ensure this happens and return to the castle, with another person, so they can go home. Problematically, Rumplestiltskin explains a certain wand can recreate any magic ever wielded, but the portal must be made by someone who already traveled through it—namely Emma. Intending to "protect the future" by drinking a potion to erase his memories of everything she told him, he also traps them in his vault, which contains dangerous magical items. While there, Hook pulls out an urn, which Emma scolds him for touching. Through some talk, Emma recognizes, after previously watching her mother, Snow White, die, that she wants to stop running away and now considers Storybrooke to be her home. This restores her magic, to which she opens a portal. Before Emma goes in, Rumplestiltskin demands to know what happens in the future when he reunites with his son, Baelfire, as she previously claimed this will occur. She admits Baelfire forgives and loves him, but he dies to save everyone. Emma talks Rumplestiltskin out of trying to change the future and urges him to drink the potion, which he does, as she disappears into the portal. After the portal closes and Rumplestiltskin's memory is wiped, he picks up the fallen wand and teleports out of the room. Rumplestiltskin returns from the Idyllic Garden to catch Belle examining one of his swords in the castle cabinet. Although he did say that she could look around, this was to test how she would react. Engrossed in his castle collections, Belle reasons she was curious since he never talks about where the items came from. Furthermore, it's her dream to see the world, which is what he gets to do. She inquiries about Camelot, and though Rumplestiltskin never actually went to Camelot, he chucks her the "souvenir" he got from Guinevere, the magic gauntlet, which can locate one's greatest weakness. As he states, the weakness is usually a thing the person loves most. After serving him tea, Belle theorizes he collects things because of having a hole in his heart. Instead, Rumplestiltskin whisks her off to laundry duty. When he goes to check up on Belle, she is gone. Then he finds out that Cruella De Vil, Ursula and Maleficent kidnapped Belle to force him to give up the magic gauntlet that he brought from Camelot. Surprisingly he gives the gauntlet to them. Later, he retrieves the gauntlet from the trio because the thing they have done was not even a deal. Cruella suggests he join them in their fight to defeat heroes, but Rumplestiltskin boasts that he always wins and doesn't need them to do it. While cleaning the castle drapes, Belle questions Rumplestiltskin about why he spins straw into gold so much. Rumplestiltskin claims it helps him forget what he once lost. Attempting to pull open the drapes, she accidentally falls from the ladder, to which he catches her. Later, Belle asks about some children's clothing she found in the castle, and he admits those were his son's outfits. Rumplestiltskin puts on a strong front when grilled about why he wanted her with him, to which Belle believes he isn't cruel, but simply lonely. He sends Belle into town to fetch straw; expecting her to never return. While on the road to town, she is manipulated by the Queen into attempting true love's kiss on Rumplestiltskin to revert him to human. On her return, Belle gives Rumplestiltskin a kiss of true love, but he angrily berates her; believing she is conspiring with the Queen to take away his powers. She is thrown into the dungeon and later kicked out of the castle by Rumplestiltskin. Before leaving, Belle attests that he's a coward to believe she doesn't truly love him and will live to regret his actions. A short time later, the Queen lies to Rumplestiltskin about Belle's tragic fate after she supposedly returned home, was shunned by her family and eventually committed suicide. Despairing over her death, Rumplestiltskin places his only memento of Belle, the chipped cup, on a pedestal. Snow White, having taken Rumplestiltskin's potion to erase her heartache over Prince Charming, becomes a ruthless and stingy person who is hell-bent on murdering the Queen. One of her dwarf friends, Grumpy, drags her back to Rumplestiltskin's castle hoping the wizard can undo the magic, but he cannot. Instead, Rumplestiltskin gives Snow White a bow and arrow as well as a map to track down and kill the Queen. After she leaves, Prince Charming arrives demanding Snow White's whereabouts and gives Rumplestiltskin his cloak as payment for the information. From the cloak, Rumplestiltskin takes a strand of Prince Charming's hair and combines it with Snow White's to form a bottle of true love. }} }} }} }} Visitors *Anna *The Blue Fairy *Emma Swan *Evil Queen *Gaston † *Gerda † *Gideon *Grumpy *Helga † *Hook *Ingrid † *Jefferson *Jiminy Cricket *Mulan *Neal Cassidy † *Prince Charming *Robert † *Robin Hood † *Snow White Items Many items are kept in the Dark Castle, including: *A candelabra and a clockFile:112ArrangedMarriage.png *A scythe, a bow, and a Genie lampFile:112YouEvilSoul.png *A trident *Donna and Stephen in puppet formFile:112Puppets.png *Rumplestiltskin's spinning wheel *A hat resembling the Sorcerer's hatFile:112YouWillServeMeMyMeals2.png *A severed hand on a pedestalFile:112WhenYouArrived.png *A sword *Golden fleeceFile:112WhatAreYouDoing.png and a matching golden sheep skullFile:112BelleSittingDown.png *A golden lasso resembling Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth *Chipped cup *A hammer resembling Thor's Mjölnir *An arrowFile:112FetchingScissors.png *A golden chaliceFile:112Chalice.png *A shelf of various potionsFile:116Potions.png *Enchanted bow *True love potion *Fairy Godmother's wandFile:219StealingWand.png *Rumplestiltskin's walking stickFile:301TheseMarkings.png *A crystal ballFile:301OhNo.png *Magic urnFile:322UrnShaking.png *Another swordFile:411CutYourselfDearie.png *Magic gauntletFile:411ThingTheyLoveMost.png Trivia |-|Production Notes= Production Notes *The computer-generated imagery model created for the Dark Castle great hall,File:303Best.png File:407IcePowersYouSay.png foyerFile:220WhyDidnt.png File:220DidntSayIdAnswer.png and vaultFile:322EmmaOpensPortal.png File:322Portal.png is recycled and reused for the Netherworld in "Child of the Moon" and "Into the Deep",File:208LyingOnTheFloor.png File:208YoullGetBack.png and the Rear Reading Room in the New York Public Library in "Only You".File:522Grandpa.png File:522JustDont.png This can easily be seen from the identical design of the columns and archways. *The establishing shot of the Dark Castle in "Changelings"File:601OtherWayAround.png is stock footage from Belle's dream world in "The Savior".File:609DarkCastle.png |-|Cultural References= Disney *In the castle, there is a kind of fur with horns which resembles Disney's Beast. *There is a candlestick and clock in Rumplestiltskin's castle resembling Lumiere and Cogsworth from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. *A hammer resembling Thor's Mjølnir from the 2011 movie Thor and its sequels, is sitting on a pedestal *The segments where Belle serves Rumplestiltskin tea are a reference to the scene where Chip and Mrs. Potts bring Belle some tea in the movie. **The tea set with the cups, teapot, creamer and sugar bowlFile:112FetchMeFreshStraw.png mirror the scene in the movie, where Chip and Mrs. Potts are accompanied by a living sugar bowl and a living creamer. *The chipped tea cup is a reference to Chip from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. **The teapot is a reference to Chip's mother, Mrs. Potts. *The hat resembling the Sorcerer's hat is from Disney's Fantasia. *When Prince Charming confronts Rumplestiltskin, there's an arrangement of roses on the table,File:116WhereSheIs.png which references Rumplestiltskin's role as Beast in the Disney film. Popular Culture *The large scythe sitting on a pedestal is based on the Slayer Scythe featured in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which Once Upon a Time scriptwriter Jane Espenson also wrote for. *Among the old books in Rumplestiltskin's library are: **Leatherbound editions of The Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard: ***''Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard: The Elect, Volume V, 1923 (upside-down, on the right hand side on the top shelf).File:315Bookshelf.png ***Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard: On My Way, Volume VII'' (upside-down, on the right hand side on the top shelf). ***''Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard: Modern Business, Volume VIII, 1928File:315Bookshelf2.png **The Savoy Operas, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (1926) **Heartbroken Melody'' by Kathleen Norris (1939) |-|Set Notes= Props Notes *The teapot on the trayFile:112ImSoSorry2.png is a Real Old Willow Teapot by Royal Doulton, a silverware company dating back to 1815, which first started its business in London. The teapot itself was created sometime around the 1980s or 1990's. **Also sitting on the trayFile:112FetchMeFreshStraw.png File:112Relief.png File:112ImSoSorry2.png is a Royal Albert Val D'Or teaset, with teacups, tea saucers, sugar bowl and creamer, with added blue paint. **"Val d'Or" is French for "valley of gold"; the fairytale of "Beauty and the Beast" is of French origin and Rumplestiltskin is known for spinning straw into gold; his cursed counterpart is known as Mr. Gold. The white bone china features a gold trim and was inspired by the Canadian city Val-d'Or, where gold was discovered in 1923. **Royal Albert China is a British chinaware company dating back to 1896. Val D'or china was first introduced in 1960 and was manufactured for nearly fifty years before production was finished in 2009, three years before the episode "Skin Deep" was released. **Regina has the same teacups, saucers and creamer on the coffee table in her house in "Murder Most Foul", but without the blue paint.File:612BeRightBack.png File:612Nottingham.png *When the Evil Queen makes a surprise visit to Rumplestiltskin, he has a different tea set laid out on the table (the same set which the queen uses to pour a cup of tea for herself), with two cupsFile:112KeepTryingDearie.png as if Rumplestiltskin is waiting for Belle to return. After Mr. Gold is reunited with Belle in Storybrooke in "Broken", one of the first things he does after she's settled in her new clothes is to use exactly the same tea set to make tea for himself and Belle.File:201SomeOfMyOwn.png **Mr. Gold's teapot was re-used for the scene where Alice and Cyrus are having a tea party with their daughter in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland finale "And They Lived...".File:W113TeaParty.png File:W113Promo4.jpg Set Dressing *The painting on the left side of the door of the drawing roomFile:112WhoWasThat.png is Moisés Salvado de Las Aguas ("Moses Saved From the Waters") by Italian Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese. It is currently on display at the Museo del Prado, the national Spanish art museum. *The painting on the right sideFile:112ALife.png is Alexander The Great and Roxane by Italian Baroque painter Pietro Rotari. It is currently on display at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. **Another copy of this painting is hanging over Rumplestiltskin's fireplace.File:219WhatYouThought.png *A severed hand is present on a pedestal. It is most noticeable when Belle walks away from the cupboard after she takes out the vase. It is even mentioned in the script, where a "withered hand" is listed among the many objects in the castle. ::*It can also be spotted in the background when Emma and Hook return to the castle in "There's No Place Like Home",File:322TeleportedAway.png when Ingrid and her sisters pay a visit to Rumplestiltskin in "The Snow Queen"File:407IcePowersYouSay.png in Belle's dream in "The Savior"File:601ThereWasASon.png and when Rumplestiltskin shows up with Jack and Jill's infant son in "Changelings".File:609WhyWouldI.png ::*When Mr. Gold is on the phone with Belle in "The Outsider", a severed hand is visible on a pawnshop shelf.File:211YoureBreakingUp.png ::*A severed hand can also be seen lying on a pedestal in the Underbrooke Pawnshop in "Souls of the Departed"File:512GoesToSafe2.png and "Firebird".File:520GoodbyePapa.png ::*The hand can be seen in close-up on a Flickr set photograph from the pawnshop set from Season Five. (archive copy part 2) *Two of the wall tapestriesFile:112ItsAlmostSpring.png File:112BelleWalking.png are motifs from an antependium (c. 1410) in the Museum of Applied Art Frankfurt. *Another wall tapestryFile:112ItsAlmostSpring.png is L'Offrande du Coeur ("The Gift of the Heart", c. 1400-1410), from the Louvre Museum in Paris. *A tapestry hanging on the wall shows a captive unicorn inside a fence,File:112QueenAboutToLeave.png which is the seventh and final in the tapestry series The Hunt of the Unicorn created between 1495-1505 and entitled The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead. *The painting behind the two marionettesFile:219Reading.png is Still Life with Flowers by the Dutch Golden Age painter Balthasar van der Ast. It is currently on display in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. **Another copy of this painting is hanging over the fireplace. *The painting on the left side of Rumplestiltskin's glass cabinetFile:219DontYouKnow.png is one half of the painting Adoration of the Holy Wood and the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba by Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca. *A rose arrangement in a metal vase is sitting on a table in the foyer. An Underworld duplicate of this decoration appears in the backroom of the Underbrooke Pawnshop in "Her Handsome Hero",File:517MyLocker.png "Ruby Slippers"File:518LetThatHappen.png and "Firebird".File:520ApproachingBelle.png *The shelf of potion ingredients later appears in Mr. Gold's basement after the breaking of the Dark Curse.File:204Potions.png *The runic symbols Fehu (ᚠ) and Eihwaz (ᛇ) are engraved on a hammer which resembles Thor's Mjölnir.File:301FindsCrystalBall.png *One of the wands in Rumplestiltskin's cupboardFile:303WhatElse.png is also seen on display in the pawnshop in Mr. Gold's dream in "Lacey".File:219TakingWand.png The same prop is later reused as the Apprentice's Wand.File:501ApprenticeWand.png *The mirror that Zelena looks into when she starts turning greenFile:316GreenDearie.png is the same prop used for Zelena's mirror in Oz in "Our Decay",File:516LookingAtTheMirror.png "Ruby Slippers"File:518ToMakeMe.png and "The Song in Your Heart".File:620FinallyTheMoment.png The same prop is used for one of the mirrors in the World Behind the Mirror in "I'll Be Your Mirror". It is best seen in the shot where Regina says, "There is no way out", where the mirror can be seen behind her.File:608NoWayOut.png *In Rumplestiltskin's vault, there is a statue of Pazuzu,File:322Portal.png the demon from Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, and the antagonist from The Exorcist franchise. |-|Other Notes= Filming Locations *The interior scenes in Rumplestiltskin's great hall are filmed against a green-screen in The Bridge Studios,File:IGlee j buckley-DarkCastle.png File:IGmo_co_lee-DarkCastle.png the Canadian film studio where Once Upon a Time films. *The flashback scenes outside the castle in "Heroes and Villains" were filmed in Burnaby's Central Park, on the boundary beside Swangard Stadium. Appearances Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage. References }} fr:Château des Ténèbres de:Dunkles Schloss it:Castello Oscuro ru:Тёмный замок Category:Once Upon a Time Locations Category:Castles Category:Elements with Wish Realm Versions